


Valens

by gloriousrumpoflife



Series: Modern AU [3]
Category: Akatsuki no Yona | Yona of the Dawn
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-19
Updated: 2015-09-19
Packaged: 2018-04-21 14:08:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4831970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gloriousrumpoflife/pseuds/gloriousrumpoflife
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With Valentine's Day coming up, Zeno wants to celebrate the holiday with his wife, Kaya, by giving her the best chocolate she will ever have.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Valens

**Author's Note:**

  * For [GoldenWooly](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoldenWooly/gifts).



> requested by Wooly on tumblr! I meant to post this to ao3 earlier, but I kinda got lazy after posting it to tumblr, oops.

The day is as simple as it can be.  The early February weather is chilly, free of snow but not of winter, so Zeno has to keep his yellow hoodie on when he enters the hospital, because even with the heater running, the cold still seeps through the windows and crawls on everyone’s skin.  Since it is noon on a Tuesday, the hospital is as quiet as it could possibly be.  The phones don’t ring nearly as much as they usually do, and the nurses keep up scattered chatter, and the only real noise is the sound of construction next door.

“Oh, are you here for an appointment?” a secretary asks when Zeno reaches the fifth floor.

He shakes his head and offers up his sunniest smile.  “Nope!  Zeno is here to see Kaya!” he replies, a chuckle in his voice that makes the secretary grin.

“I heard you might be appearing today,” she says.  She looks down at the desk in front of her and grabs a small note.  “Kaya was moved down to the third floor last night so we could make room for another patient up here,” she reads off the paper.  “Sorry for the inconvenience.”

Zeno waves his hand in dismissal.  “No worries, no worries!  Zeno doesn’t mind!”  Offering a quick bow in lieu of thanks, Zeno hastens away from the desk and to the emergency stairs.  His feet are much quicker than the elevator, and within the span of a few seconds, he’s on the third floor, where the hallway lighting is a bit dimmer than upstairs and the walls smell like cheese.  He doesn’t bother to find another secretary to ask about Kaya’s new room—the hospital puts little name cards on the signs next to each door, and he can recognize the characters for her name in a heartbeat.  After a few minutes of hurried searching, Zeno finds Kaya’s name and enters her room with two quick knocks.

She’s as beautiful as always, her hair the color of a blackbird’s plumage, strikingly onyx with a tinge of an aurora borealis blue.  She has her regular day clothes on, a long beige skirt, a pale yellow blouse, and a fuzzy green jacket.  She sits on the floor, away from any comforts the hospital bed or room chair could offer, the TV playing some cheesy black-and-white film, and she sparks into a smile as soon as she sees him.  “Zeno!” she exclaims, moving to her feet.  Zeno hurries over to Kaya and helps her up, and hugs her tight when she’s standing.  “How’s my Zeno?” she asks.

“Much better, now that Zeno gets to see his Kaya!” he answers immediately, resting his head on her shoulder.  She laughs like a wind chime in a soft breeze.

“It’s only been a few hours since you saw Kaya!” she rebuttals.  But he can tell in the way she wraps her arms around him and buries her face in the crook of his neck, that she has missed him terribly, as well.

“It’s never enough!” Zeno whines, rocking side to side and taking her with him.  She laughs again, this time a little louder.  “Zeno wants to see Kaya aaaaall the time!  From dawn to dusk to dawn again!  You’re my wife, after all!”

Kaya giggles and presses a powerful kiss to his cheek.  “And you’re my husband!”  Unofficial though their marriage may be, without even a pair of rings to prove their intentions, Zeno’s heart still burns with pride at his title.

Zeno holds onto her a little longer, drinking in her scent and her warmth.  His arms, wrapped around her stomach, notice what little weight she’s managed to gain, a flickering promise embedded in fat.  Kaya pats his back when she’s ready to sit back down, and he helps her to the floor, knowing just as well as she does how uncomfortable the bed or the chair can become after relentless days spent in the hospital.  She curls up next to him, hugging him like a child hugs their stuffed animal.

“What’s been going on outside?” she questions as she rests her head against his chest.  She sighs happily, closing her eyes, and he can’t help smiling at how much she loves this pastime — listening to his heartbeat and talking about a world she hasn’t experienced in so long.

“Well, it’ll be Valentine’s Day soon!” he replies, reaching up a hand and petting her pretty hair.  She hums, practically purrs, at the touch.  “So there’s lots and lots of chocolate going around!  Zeno can barely keep himself from eating it all!”

“You must be in Yun’s kitchen all the time,” Kaya teases.

Zeno chuckles.  “You’re right!  The lad is trying to make the perfect chocolate for Valentine’s Day, so he’s having Zeno try his batches.  Zeno has been staying with him and the priest for a few weeks now.”

“You’ve been staying there for so long just to eat chocolate?  Sounds amazing!” Kaya proclaims, stars in her copper colored eyes.

“More like _delicious_!” Zeno answers with a laugh.  He doesn’t want to tell her that the reason he’s been staying with Yun for so long is because there’s been an infestation in the run-down apartment Zeno calls home, and Zeno doesn’t exactly have the money for an exterminator and a repairman.  He’s sure she knows, anyway — she understands him better than anyone ever has or ever could.  She won’t question him on it, though, because she’s well aware by now that most of his money has to go to hospital bills that not even the pay from his three jobs can completely cover.  It’s one of the reasons he loves her so much.  She knows when to pull his strings and when to not, like a merciful puppeteer.  She’s a goddess in her own human way.  He adores her all the more for it.

Kaya moves into his lap.  Zeno crosses his legs so he can leave a wide space for her to sit in, and she fits in perfectly.  An arm around her shoulders to support her, Zeno presses several long kisses to her lips, which she returns with compassionate vigor.  Ah, he loves her, he loves her, he loves her.  More than air, more than food, more than life, he loves her.  When the kissing ends, Kaya smooches the right sleeve of his T-shirt, a subtle move to dry her lips.  They chuckle merrily in unison.

“So, what is Zeno going to get Kaya?” she eventually asks.  She reaches up to play with the fringes of his golden hair.

“The best chocolate ever!” Zeno replies.  He ducks his head to quickly kiss her wrist.  She giggles at the touch, saying “ _that tickles!_ ” between laughs.  “Something soooooooo good that Kaya will never, ever forget it!”

 

* * *

 

“And how the hell am I supposed to achieve that?”

Approximately six hours after the hospital visit and the promise of unforgettable chocolate, Zeno is in the kitchen of his temporary home.  Yun stands at the stove, slaving over what is probably his fifty-fifth attempt at the perfect Valentine’s Day chocolate (Zeno’s already lost count of all the trials, but that number feels right).  Fresh from a quick shift cover at the supermarket, Zeno holds his blue work apron in his hand as he points, almost accusatory, at Yun.

“If anyone can make unforgettable chocolate for my wife, it’s you, lad!” Zeno proclaims.

“I barely know your wife!” Yun retorts.  Wielding a chocolate-covered mixing spoon like a dagger, Yun almost appears like a frustrated warrior, unsure of his enemy but ready for action.  As important as it is for Zeno to _not_ be on Yun’s bad side, Zeno is like the battlefield spy, working for an untouchable third party to kill two birds with one stone.  In this case, though, no blood will be spilled — just chocolate, lots and lots of chocolate.  Delicious chocolate, too, which is such a waste, but Kaya is much more important than that!

“Please, lad!” Zeno begs, rushing into battle to grab Yun’s hands.  Suddenly unable to use his fingers, Yun beings the strange act of trying to turn off the stove with only his elbow.  “This is important to Zeno!  My wife wants the most unforgettable chocolate ever but Zeno is mediocre at cooking!”  He whines loudly for added effect, though apparently he sounds like an angry cat when he does that, because Ik-Su appears almost immediately, asking if Yun brought in another stray cat.

“Zeno’s not a cat!” Zeno complains.  “And Zeno isn’t a stray!”

“Well, you’re definitely strange,” Yun mumbles.  Ik-Su, noticing Yun’s struggle to turn off the stove with his elbow, comes over to them, reaches over his adopted son, and does the job for him.

“What are you two fighting about?” Ik-Su asks.  He drapes his arms around Yun’s shoulders in a loose hug and rests his chin atop Yun’s head.  Yun grumbles, unhappy to be forced to stay in his current place with Zeno holding his hands and Ik-Su quasi-holding his body.  Zeno notices an angry glint in his eyes, but Yun makes no move to throw either man off him.  That’s a good sign, hopefully.

“Zeno needs the lad to make chocolate for Kaya!” Zeno finally answers.  “But the lad won’t help Zeno!”  He puts on a theatric pout for emphasis.

“Aaahhh, I understand…” Ik-Su responds.  “But isn’t Yun already super busy?  He’s trying to make chocolate for all his friends.”

“Yeah!” Yun adds in, a sliver of shock in his voice, probably because he wasn’t expecting Ik-Su to take his side.  “I’m trying to make a batch that everyone will like so it won’t look like I’m playing favorites—” which is, actually, a perfectly sound argument, since everyone in their little friend group is rather content with making Yun, the youngest of all of them, their faux mother, and mothers can’t play favorites without facing the consequences, “—so why the hell would I make a special batch for someone I barely know?  I can give you a share of the group chocolate to give to Kaya, but that’s it.”

As reasonable as Yun’s logic is, though, Zeno remains undeterred.  He tightens his hold of Yun’s hands and shifts to stand just a little closer to him, staring deep into his eyes.  Yun returns the gaze, at first steady, but it slowly grows into worry the longer the eye contact is held.  Eventually, just as Yun seems the most uneasy, Zeno declares, “You don’t understand romance, lad!”

“Says the man who calls a woman his wife without ever giving her a ring or actually marrying her,” Yun immediately quips.  The words are a harder hit than any fist could deliver.

“That’s a low blow, lad…” Zeno mumbles.

“I’m just glad that wasn’t directed at me…” Ik-Su mutters, completely unhelpful.

Finally, Yun throws Zeno and Ik-Su off him and turns around to the stove.  “Great, the chocolate scalded…” he says, slightly under his breath but loud enough to convey his annoyance with Zeno.  He picks up the bowl of chocolate and goes to the sink with it, ready to pour out the ruined contents.

Zeno raises his fists, not in a battle stance but ready to fight, either way.  “Imagine if you were making chocolate for the miss and the miss alone!” he shouts, and the words make Yun’s shoulders jump.

Ik-Su raises his hands to his lips, obviously having fun watching the spectacle in his kitchen.

“Y-Yona?  For Yona and Yona alone?” Yun whispers.  He drops the bowl, a sudden _clang!_ flying through the air, and he turns around slowly.  Zeno is expecting anger, but, instead, there is a bright red blush spread across Yun’s face.  “Why the hell are you bringing her up?!”

“Because the miss is special to you just like Kaya is special to me!” Zeno exclaims.  Granted, Yona is special to Yun in a manner must different from how Kaya is special to Zeno, but Zeno is sure his point has been made by how Yun has his arms wrapped around his stomach, shy and startled.

“Fi-fine!” Yun shouts.  “I’ll think about it, okay?!”

Zeno pumps his fists in the air.  “Yay!  You’re the best, lad!”

 

* * *

 

 

Valentine’s Day comes with no lack of hurrah.  Boxes and boxes of chocolate to put out at the supermarket, tons of heart-themed decorations at the crafts store, and a lovers menu at the café — it’s safe to say that, through all three of Zeno’s jobs, he’s sufficiently exhausted of Valentine’s Day long before it actually arrives.  But when it does, he wakes up in the morning to his phone’s alarm and finds a flood of text messages from his friends, and his chest fills with warmth.  Hak and Kija’s messages are short, just a regular “Happy Valentine’s Day!” greeting in their own typing quirks.  Jae-ha and Yona’s are long, overloaded with various emojis to express their excitement.  Shinah’s is, simply, just a picture of a heart.  There’s no text from Yun, but the reason for that is obvious enough.  Zeno scrolls through the rest of his messages, from coworkers to acquaintances, replying to all of them, until Yun appears in the doorway of Zeno’s temporary bedroom.  Yun is already dressed for school, his uniform in pristine shape despite the heavy bags under his eyes (it’s a rare occurrence for Yun to actually get a good night’s sleep when there’s a holiday).  He carries a heart-patterned plastic bag in his hands, which has multiple, smaller bags inside, and all those small bags contain a variety of chocolates that Yun was slaving over the night before.

“Good morning,” Yun greets, with the bite of aggravated exhaustion in his voice.  “I finished the chocolate for your wife.”

Zeno jumps to his feet at that.  “Yay!” he yells, throwing his arms up with joy.  “Really, you’re the greatest, lad!  Thank you so much!!”  Heedless of the danger, Zeno rushes up to Yun and embraces him tightly, almost picking him up in his excitement.  “Zeno will pay you back, promise!”

Yun grumbles something incomprehensible and pats Zeno’s shoulder.  “You need all the money you can get right now, so don’t worry about it…” he mumbles.  “By the way, Kaya’s chocolate is downstairs, on the dining table with your breakfast.”

Zeno releases Yun from the hug.  “Zeno will definitely pay you back!” he exclaims, bouncing as he boils over with joy at the good news.  “One way or another!”

Yun grimaces and covers his nose with his free hand.  “Brush your teeth first,” he admonishes.  “At least _try_ to be presentable today.”

“Zeno will, Zeno will~” he sings.  Still bouncing, he makes his way around Yun and hurries into the bathroom.  At least twenty minutes later, with his teeth brushed, his clothes changed, and his breakfast eaten, Zeno sees Yun off for school, pays his respects to Ik-Su for his hospitality, and runs off for the hospital, a wrapped up box of chocolate held protectively to his chest and his bag slung across his chest.

In hindsight, he should have waited for the train, or at least have taken his bike.  But he disregarded the two easier modes of transport, so when he arrives at the hospital, he’s soaked in sweat.  The nice wrapping on the chocolate box is wrinkled, and torn where Zeno was holding it, so he does his best to carry it with the utmost care as he limps into the hospital.  Luckily, the secretary notices his state and, already plenty familiar with him, sits him down and buys him two bottles of water with her own money.  She makes sure he rehydrates himself and takes enough time to cool off, and is kind enough to even wipe the sweat from his face.  She even lends him her perfume to help cover his smell (he has a stick of deodorant in his bag, but he doubts it’s enough, so he accepts her offer).  That makes four favors he owes her.  He makes a mental note to buy some new flowers for her desk and to order the new video game she’s been wanting.

When he’s finally cooled off, he goes to the restroom to freshen himself up.  Without bothering to tape up the wrapping on the chocolate box — because Kaya won’t care about some tears — Zeno takes the elevator up to the third floor and finds Kaya’s room without any further help.  She’s asleep when he opens the door, but she wakes up as soon as he pulls up a chair to her bedside.

“Zeno,” she greets, voice weak but hinting at enthusiasm.  She must have had a relapse, Zeno realizes, so he does his best to match her pitch and not disturb her further.

“Kaya,” he replies as he takes her hand.  He kisses her fingers, five times in total, and watches her mouth stretch into a lovely smile.  He adores her, oh, he adores her so much.  “Zeno brought you the chocolate.  Zeno asked the lad to help me with it, so it’s definitely the most unforgettable chocolate Kaya will ever have!”

Kaya giggles softly.  She’s so gorgeous, even with the color in her face almost totally washed out.  “Even if Zeno didn’t have help, Kaya is sure I would never forget the chocolate.  This is the first chocolate Kaya has ever received from a boy, let alone my husband!”  She giggles again.  Zeno leans forward to kiss her, which she happily receives.  “Kaya can’t eat it right now,” she says when Zeno pulls away, “but will you stay until I can?”

Zeno offers her a bright smile.  “Of course Zeno will!  I already told my bosses that I’ll be busy all day, so no one’s gonna call Zeno in for a shift.  Promise!”

Kaya grins, relieved.  “Do you want to watch something until then?”  She moves to grab the remote for the television, and Zeno gladly climbs into the bed with her, leaving the chocolate in the chair.  It’s a tight fit, but the way she bursts into laughter at his antics washes away any discomfort.

“Sure thing!”  Zeno takes the remote from Kaya and kisses her cheek, making sure to leave slobber and make her laugh even more.  “Let’s watch old movies!  Something silly is bound to pop up!”

Kaya grins and kisses his cheek, though she doesn’t leave any slobber.  “Kaya likes that plan!”

She wraps her arms around his stomach and rests her head on his chest, and they stay like that for hours, until it’s time for Zeno to leave with all the other visitors.  Kaya never manages to eat the chocolate, but she swears she’ll be better tomorrow, so Zeno should come back and share it with her.  Zeno stops by the game store on his way home and reserves the game for the secretary.  He also buys Yun’s favorite snacks from the convenience store.  When he makes it home, Yun is already passed out cold.  Zeno cooks dinner for himself and Ik-Su, who doesn’t ask a thing about Kaya, because somehow he always knows the right time to speak of such a wonderful person.  And when Zeno finally lays down to sleep, he dreams about Kaya, about all the fantastic things they’ll do when she’s deemed well enough to leave the hospital, about all the great chocolate they’ll eat and she’ll ultimately forget, because no sweets in the world could compare to the chocolate he gave to her today.


End file.
